TOPIC: Dress Codes For Girls

I 100% agree with this post. I think these dress codes have gotten completely out of hand. I was fortunate enough to attend a private school so I had a uniform growing up for most of my life but even on our "free dress" days we had dress codes we had to adhere to. This being said I would also like to point out the fact here plain and simple that I am a lesbian woman. I have to sit next to girls in class every single day- just like guys do. I have to do every single thing that the boys do. These dress codes blame their strict nature on the fact that "people of the opposite sex have problems focusing". I find that excuse completely and utterly repulsive. If I can sit behind the most gorgeous girl in school every single day for a year and focus in class and not have my mind wander to think innapropriate thoughts when I shouldn't be, then why is it so much harder for a guy to do it? The excuse dates back to the old "boys will be boys" saying and I find it hard to comprehend that in a society as forward moving and intelligent as we are, the fact that we cannot function on a day to day basic because we can see a girls bra strap is mind-blowing. WE ALL KNOW SHE'S WEARING A BRA! SHE PROBABLY PAID A LOT OF MONEY FOR IT TOO! It's not like because our bra strap causally catches a glimpse of sunlight we're asking for someone to come pin us against a wall and take us. There is a double standard for women no matter how we slice it and that standard is the first thing that we need to take away before we can move forward to empowering women to be intelligent and powerful young leaders.

I have no problem with mandatory uniforms. I know I'm one of the few people who like school uniforms, but I think they help prevent discrimination against kids who can't afford new clothes and save people time getting ready every morning (if you're a person who cares about that sort of thing). If a school had a strict uniform policy with the goal of conformity, I wouldn't mind.

Public school dress codes, however, seem to be more about sexualizing young girls. I think it's sexist and harmful to say that boys can't focus or control their urges around a girl with bare shoulders or a bra strap. It reminds me of that saying, "boys will be boys [who will grow up and not be held accountable for rape]". In my whole school career I have never met anyone with such a reptilian brain that they couldn't get through the school day because a thirteen year old girl had a bra strap showing. (Actually, I did have a substitute who was like that. He was later fired and arrested for molesting students, which shows that the people who are thinking about young kids that way are the ones with the problem). And if that were true, I think people need to be exposed to it even more so they can get used to the idea that girls are autonomous beings and every individual is responsible for his or her actions.

I agree that oftentimes high school dress codes are ridiculous for girls in America. In my own experiences at a large public school in northern california, all dress code violations were pretty legitimate. Shorts were extremely revealing, see-through t-shirts, tube tops, etc. While I agree that it is wrong for school administration to force girls to change for the examples depicted in this BuzzFeed article, I think that oftentimes girls don't understand why these rules are in place. Just like men, later on in their lives, when they are in a professional work setting, short skirts are not acceptable, nor would any woman want to show off her bra, etc.